KBzine: the original kitchen and bathroom industry e-news - since 2002
28th January 2021

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We have mail: DCA's Stephen Munton responds to last week's Leader about the possibility that improvements to laundry detergent performance will enable us to wash our clothes at temperatures as low as 10 degrees C...

Hi Jan,

The problem I foresee with this is with modern automatic washing machines, because when they wash at lower temperatures they also wash more quickly. It's been a very long time since I worked in the electrical industry but I do remember from my training that when one aspect of the cleaning process decreases another has to be increased to compensate for it.

So, in this instance, we could increase either the amount of detergent or the amount of water used, or preferably the time it takes to do the laundry.

I once used a 30-degree cycle only to find that the centre of the laundry in the drum didn't even get wet - never mind washed.

I'm all for the reduction in water temperature but it has to come with a better education and instructions surrounding the time it takes to do the laundry, because for many washing machines at the moment a 30-degree cycle is merely to dip it in and out of the water and then move rapidly to the rinsing. Laundry needs to be suspended and agitated in the water for longer.

Best regards,

Stephen Munton, director
Domestic Cleaning Alliance
www.domesticcleaningalliance.co.uk

14th May 2018